Clean air is good for our health. The air we breathe goes to our lungs and is the absorbed into the body. Air with harmful particles such as dust can be detrimental to our health. The concern for getting the air around us clean and fresh for our overall health of our body has led to developments in air cleaning technologies. Among the devices, science has given us include the air purifier and the air humidifier. These two devices, although serving the same purpose of providing fresh air, the functions they provide to you are quite different.
Humidifiers and Air Purifiers: Their Functions and Differences
From the word humidify, air humidifiers are made to add moisture to the air to reduce problems related to dry air. Air purifiers, on the other hand, are used to clear particles harmful to your health such as dust and smoke from the air. Below is a comparison of the two.
Air Humidifiers
A healthy body system requires proper humidity for survival. A humidifier’s main purpose is to add moisture to the air we breathe. The moisture level refers to the amount of water vapor in the air. This device is usually installed indoors. Air humidifiers are mostly of two types, warm mist humidifiers, and cool mist humidifiers.
The cool mist humidifier uses a fan to evaporate the water into vapor while the warm air humidifiers use a steam vaporizer that expel warm air after its heated. Other technologies to implement humidifiers include the ultrasonic and impeller air humidifiers. All of them have one common purpose; to add moisture to air around.
An air humidifier consists of a reservoir tank with water, a wick, and a fan. The wick absorbs air to the surface, and the running fan blows the air from the wick to increase the evaporation rate. The vapor remains suspended in the air around, and a certain moisture level is maintained. Humidifiers, therefore, require a feedback system for it to monitor the moisture levels intelligently and to moisturize only when the level is below some certain critical level.
Humidifiers come in different shapes and sizes to suit the room size among other factors.
Air Purifiers
These devices have been designed to eliminate contaminants in the air. These contaminants can include dust, smoke particles, pollen particles and dust mites. They are very useful to individuals with respiratory problems such as asthma and other respiratory allergies. Health care professionals recommend the use of air purifiers because of their health benefits.
An air purifier system can be incorporated during the installation of HVAC systems to maintain fresh, clean air. There are small portable air purifiers that you can use at your home if you don’t have an HVAC system installed. There are a number of technologies available for the implementation of air purification systems. They include:
- Activated carbon: This is an extremely pure form of charcoal. It achieves the elimination of particles using chemical processes.
- Ozone generators: This is another solution that makes use of ozone. Ozone is a proper reactant against toxic particles.
- Photo catalytic oxidation: This uses some chemical elements that react with the contaminants hence eliminating their pure form.
- Polarized media electronic filters: These incorporate in the use of electricity to purify the air
- Ionizer Purifier: Commonly referred to as electrostatic precipitators, the ionizer purifier uses electrically charged particles known as ions to attract contaminant particles and then absorb them in the charge absorber.
- Ultraviolet germ irradiation: This uses ultraviolet light to kill the germs and microbes present in the air.
Air purifiers are not perfect. They require constant cleaning and maintenance. There are purifiers that work best in eliminating stench than eliminating smoke and dust, while others can be perfect in eliminating dust particles but not stench in the room. Get to know the application you want for your air purifier before going for one.
Air purifiers and humidifiers are important to maintaining a clean and healthy room. If you are thinking of the device to choose between a humidifier and a purifier, then, my answer for you is that you should install both. Their purposes cannot be switched. If you are on a tight budget, then you should consider your requirements first before purchasing.